They will be held accountable for the blow: Russia will have a regulation for handling cases of beatings
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- They will be held accountable for the blow: Russia will have a regulation for handling cases of beatings
Regulations for the consideration of cases involving battery, libel and the infliction of minor harm to health in district courts will appear in Russia. Such amendments were developed by the Ministry of Justice and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. Back in 2018, this category of cases was transferred from the jurisdiction of magistrates to district courts, but the necessary amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure were not made. As a result, the processes were delayed, and sometimes cases of beatings were not initiated at all, the authors of the amendments and experts state. Now the court will have no reason to refuse to accept an application to initiate a criminal case, hope in women's crisis centers and specialized NGOs. But lawyers note that victims of domestic violence will still have difficulties in defending their position, because such cases relate to private prosecution: victims have to prove the guilt of the offender, including providing evidence.
What is changing in the consideration of cases of battery
The gap in the regulations of district courts, which did not explain in any way how to consider, in particular, cases of battery, is planned to be eliminated. In judicial practice, this lacuna has existed for more than five years - in December 2018, criminal cases of battery were transferred from the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to district courts, but in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPC), changes prescribing the duties of district courts in this direction have not appeared.
And only on March 28, 2024, the Constitutional Court clarified that the articles of the CPC, which describe how magistrates handle such cases, do not imply refusals by district courts to accept victims' applications to initiate a criminal case of private prosecution. Such cases include articles on causing minor harm to health, battery by a person who has already been subjected to administrative punishment or has a criminal record for a similar offense, and libel.
On February 24, the Government Commission on Legislative Activity approved the Ministry of Justice's proposals to update the regulations, which will also apply to the work of district courts, according to the editorial board's sources in the Cabinet. The draft law is at Izvestia's disposal.
The lack of regulation of district court judge's actions creates legal uncertainty and leads to unjustified refusals to initiate criminal cases of battery, stated Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association.
- The draft law of the Ministry of Justice was developed in fulfillment of the CC ruling. He pointed out that in the system of current legal regulation the existing procedure should apply to district courts and the legislator has the right to clarify the procedure for consideration of private prosecution cases by district courts, - explained the Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia. - The bill is aimed at eliminating legal uncertainty.
The changes to be introduced in the CPC will increase the level of legal protection of victims, speed up the proceedings in criminal cases of private prosecution and contribute to the realization of the principle of inevitability of responsibility, added Vladimir Gruzdev.
According to the Ministry of Justice, in 2020, more than 6 thousand criminal cases were initiated in the order of private prosecution on applications received by the court, in 2021 - 5.2 thousand cases, in 2022 - 4.7 thousand cases, in 2023 - 4.3 thousand cases. In the first half of 2024 - 2 thousand cases.
What is the situation in practice
The fact that women who have faced beatings can apply to the court, and the court will not have an unnecessary reason to refuse to accept the application is a positive signal, believes the head of the Center for the Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence at the Consortium of Women's Non-Governmental Associations Mari Davtyan.
She recalled that in 2019, Moscow resident Galina Baskakova, who had been subjected to domestic violence by her ex-husband for many years, applied to the center. She filed applications several times demanding that he be found guilty under Article 116.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for battery by a person who has been subjected to administrative punishment or has a criminal record, but she was refused.
- The reasons for the refusal often varied, but it was obvious that they simply did not want to deal with these cases. Appealing the refusals took so much time that on some episodes the terms of bringing to responsibility expired, - said the lawyer. - The district court refused to initiate and consider private prosecution cases on repeated beatings in Galina's case.
The CPC, according to the lawyer, is formulated in such a way that private prosecution cases, namely cases of beatings, should be considered in district courts. However, the rest of the legal procedure, including the chapter on private prosecution cases, said such cases were to be heard by magistrate courts.
- This led to the fact that the police authorities conducted a check on the victims' claims of repeated beatings, sending the material to the district court, and the court redirected it all to the magistrate court, considering that the jurisdiction should be considered by the magistrate court, and the magistrate court returned the application to the police," explained Mari Davtyan.
This is exactly what Galina Baskakova faced. Legal uncertainty led to the fact that her applications were transferred from the police to district courts, then to magistrate courts. As a result, the statute of limitations on her cases expired, the lawyer emphasized. Then the woman appealed to the Constitutional Court, which in March 2024 and gave its explanations, which became the reason for the amendments developed by the Ministry of Justice.
- The ruling of the Constitutional Court, which led to the amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, should correct the systemic legal problem and help other victims of domestic violence, - Mari Davtyan hopes.
She added that Galina Baskakova failed to bring her ex-husband to criminal responsibility for a number of episodes of violence because of the statute of limitations, but the woman was able to get compensation of 150 thousand rubles for the inaction of the state to protect her from systematic domestic violence.
But not only the lack of regulations is not an obvious reason for the refusal of judges to work with such cases, said lawyer Alexei Gavrishev.
- In practice, judges often use the lack of a known address of the accused to 'wrap up' such cases," he said.
He noted that not all district courts have faced the problem of denial of victims due to the lack of regulations in the CPC, generally characterizing the situation as follows: "it worked with a creak.
- But the adoption of regulations, of course, can only be welcomed," he said.
What victims lack in court
Currently, victims of domestic violence still have difficulties with defense because their cases are classified as private prosecution, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe.
Mari Davtyan explained that in such cases, the police are not involved in the investigation - all these responsibilities fall on the victim: it is he or she who must write an application to the court, collect evidence in the manner prescribed by law, present it to the court, support the prosecution, and appear at every court hearing.
In such cases, the participation of the authorities is extremely passive, said Alexander Pochuev, lawyer, president of the International Bar Association of Moscow "Pochuev, Zelgin and Partners".
-The fact that the burden of proof in cases of private prosecution lies on the victim makes the situation much more difficult, because not always people have sufficient resources to obtain them," said Alexander Pochuev.
It is necessary to provide victims in such cases with free qualified legal assistance, added the lawyer of Nizhny Novgorod Women's Crisis Center Airi Ilau.
- After all, the offender is legally provided with a lawyer free of charge - by appointment of the court, while the victim has to defend herself on her own," she said.
Private prosecution in domestic violence cases can be not only ineffective but also dangerous, the lawyers added.
- Often the victims of such crimes are more vulnerable citizens, such as women and children, who suffer domestic violence often from loved ones. And the perpetrator can intimidate the victim or beg forgiveness to reconcile the parties in court," explained Alexander Pochuev.
And the court is obliged to accept such reconciliation, it is also stipulated in the CPC, the lawyer added.
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